DRAGONFLY

Dr. Joe Darrow recently lost his wife, who died in a car accident in the Amazon while on a humanitarian mission, along with the daughter she was carrying. For Joe, it's a terrible blow, especially because his wife's body was never found, making it difficult for him to accept her death. To forget, Joe throws himself into work, but things only get worse: he becomes convinced that his wife's spirit is trying to contact him and uses his dying patients for this purpose... Given the success of films like "The Sixth Sense," "The Others," and "What Lies Beneath" for guaranteed box office returns, Hollywood continues to explore ghost stories (in this case filled with good feelings) while Kevin Costner relies on this film to regain public favor after recent box office flops. Unfortunately for Costner (and especially for the audience!), this "Dragonfly" is not very convincing: apart from a few decent moments of suspense and the good performances by Costner himself and Kathy Bates (in the role of the understanding neighbor of Dr. Joe), the film has a weak script and lacks original ideas. Filled with clichés about the afterlife (the tunnel, the light, the spirits of dying people hovering over their bodies), the movie drags through predictable surprises to a saccharine and highly implausible ending. Even the pace, not particularly brilliant, does not help in enjoying the film. Trivia: The director is Tom Shadyac, who for the first time tackles the fantasy genre after a series of successful comedies (among others, "Liar Liar," "Ace Ventura," and "The Nutty Professor").